Latest Facebook Updates

March 24, 2018

One of the reasons Facebook continues to be the giant that it is, is that the developers at Menlo Park never go on vacation! In this post, we’ve gathered some of the top and most recent updates that Facebook has either rolled out or is planning to.

This is a part of Facebook’s initiative to crack down on links to “spammy” or low-quality websites, in an effort to show users less misleading posts. According to them, they’ll take into account the user’s Wi-Fi connection or device they’re using. For example, if their mobile site notices your internet connection is poor, they’ll show more status updates and links instead of videos.

If you didn’t already know, 40% of people leave a website that takes more than 3 seconds to load. It’s time to analyze your website load speed so that you won’t be penalized by Facebook’s update, which will be rolling out on their mobile app in the next few months.

2) Active users

Facebook is also testing out an active user notifier for their platform. According to a tweet by a social media Director, online users will have a green dot displayed next to their names in the comments.

Many other social platforms use this type of indicator, even Facebook’s own chat sidebar. Although this update isn’t really adding that much more of functionality to the platform, increased engagement by alerting users of people’s online presence can have a positive impact on conversions.

3) RSVPs as ad targeting option

Facebook plans on allowing brands to target ads to people who have RSVP’d to events posted on their Page.

By adding this event RSVPs to its list of ad-targeting options seems to be a way for Facebook to reward the brands currently utilizing the events feature in order to promote things like product launches, grand-openings, etc. Companies were already able to use events to raise interest in their brand and, with this update, they’ll now be able to use that to follow up on those who attended or find others who might be interested.

You’ll be able to choose to create a custom audience based on people who have responded “going” to an event, “interested”, or both. Brands can specify which audience to target and reach those who responded to an event as far as 180 days.

4) Updates to video re-share metrics

After listening to user feedback, Facebook came to realize more metrics for content creators were needed, as well as limitations on the visibility of their metrics. In response, here are a few of the updates that Facebook is planning to the video re-share metrics:

Facebook will be adding insights for those creators on which brands have been re-sharing their videos, however, the specifics of those insights are not yet available.

With this update, content creators will have more metrics and a deeper insight into their posting strategy and won’t have to worry about certain metrics being accessed by re-sharers.

5) Global Messenger Ads

A recent announcement by Facebook states that it will begin rolling out home tab ads on Messenger globally. Their initial tests in Australia and Thailand must have been very promising because, in the upcoming months, brands around the world will have the opportunity to advertise right within Facebook’s Messenger app.

For Messenger’s more than 1.2 billion monthly users, those ads will show up only on the home tab, not in actual conversations.

Ads are a big part of Facebook’s revenue, so it makes sense that they are rolling out Messenger home tab ads globally. Once ads area clicked, users will either be redirected to a website, or a new conversation thread between the user and the brand will open up.